BILL NUMBER: AB 484	CHAPTERED  09/27/00

	CHAPTER   699
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE   SEPTEMBER 27, 2000
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR   SEPTEMBER 25, 2000
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY   AUGUST 31, 2000
	PASSED THE SENATE   AUGUST 30, 2000
	AMENDED IN SENATE   AUGUST 29, 2000
	AMENDED IN SENATE   AUGUST 25, 2000
	AMENDED IN SENATE   AUGUST 7, 2000
	AMENDED IN SENATE   JUNE 21, 2000
	AMENDED IN SENATE   JUNE 13, 2000
	AMENDED IN SENATE   JULY 14, 1999
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   MAY 28, 1999
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   MAY 10, 1999
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   APRIL 5, 1999

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Members Kuehl and Wildman
   (Coauthors:  Assembly Members Bates, Battin, Briggs, Calderon,
Campbell, Knox, Leach, Nakano, Romero, and Scott)
   (Coauthors:  Senators Alarcon, Schiff, and Solis)

                        FEBRUARY 18, 1999

   An act to amend Sections 15363.72 and 15363.75 of, and to repeal
and add Section 15363.73 of, the Government Code, relating to
economic development.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 484, Kuehl.  Film California First Program.
   (1) Existing law establishes the Film California First Program,
which authorizes the Trade and Commerce Agency to pay and reimburse
the film costs, as defined, incurred by a public agency, as defined,
according to specified procedures.  Procedures and guidelines
promulgated to clarify and make specific provisions of the program,
or of any other film assistance program within the agency, are exempt
from specified requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act for
a specified period, and the agency is authorized to adopt emergency
regulations for these purposes after that period.
   This bill would revise the definitions of the terms "film costs"
and "public agency" for purposes of the program, and would revise the
procedures for state payment and reimbursement of those costs.  It
would provide that the exemption from specified provisions of the
Administrative Procedure Act, and the authorization to adopt
emergency regulations, shall apply instead to the procedures and
guidelines promulgated by the California Film Commission within the
agency, with respect to the act or to any other film assistance
program within the commission.
   (2) Existing law requires the California Film Commission to
prepare an annual status report of the Film California First Program,
to include specified information.
   This bill would require instead that the commission prepare annual
preliminary reports, to include specified information, to be
submitted to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, prior to the
adoption of the annual Budget Act, and submit a final report to the
committee no later than January 1, 2004. It would require the
commission, in consultation with specified state agencies, to
contract with an independent audit firm or qualified academic expert
to prepare a report to be submitted to the committee no later than
January 1, 2004.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  Section 15363.72 of the Government Code is amended to
read:
   15363.72.  For purposes of this chapter, the following meanings
shall apply:
   (a) "Agency" means the Trade and Commerce Agency, which includes
the California Film Commission.
   (b) "Film" means any commercial production for motion picture,
television, commercial, or still photography.
   (c) "Film costs" means the usual and customary charges by a public
agency connected with the production of a film,  limited to any of
the following:
   (1) State employee costs.
   (2) Federal employee costs.
   (3) Federal, state, University of California, and California State
University permits and rental costs.
   (4) Local public entity employee costs for fire services and
nonpolice public safety, including, but not limited to, municipal
utilities, transportation and street maintenance, and recreational
agencies.
   (5) Local property use fees.
   (6) Rental costs for equipment mandated and owned by a public
agency in connection with the film.
   (d) "Fund" means the Film California First Fund, established
pursuant to Section 15363.74.
   (e) "Production company" means a company, partnership, or
corporation, engaged in the production of film.
   (f) "Program" means the Film California First Program established
pursuant to this chapter.
   (g) "Public agency" means any of the following:
   (1) The State of California, and any of its agencies, departments,
boards, or commissions.
   (2) The federal government, and any of its agencies, departments,
boards, or commissions.
   (3) The University of California.
   (4) The California State University.
   (5) California local public entities.
   (6) Any nonprofit corporation acting as an agent for the recovery
of costs incurred by any of the entities listed in this subdivision.

  SEC. 2.  Section 15363.73 of the Government Code is repealed.
  SEC. 3.  Section 15363.73 is added to the Government Code, to read:

   15363.73.  (a) The Trade and Commerce Agency may pay and reimburse
the film costs incurred by a public agency, subject to an audit.
The director of the commission shall develop alternate procedures for
the reimbursement of public agency costs incurred by the production
company.  The Trade and Commerce Agency shall only reimburse actual
costs incurred and may not reimburse for duplicative costs.
   (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Controller
shall pay any program invoice received from the agency that contains
documentation detailing the film costs, and if the party requesting
payment or reimbursement is a public agency, a certification that the
invoice is not duplicative cost recovery, and an agreement by the
public agency that the Trade and Commerce Agency may audit the public
agency for invoice compliance with the program requirements.
   (c) (1) Not more than three hundred thousand dollars ($300,000)
shall be expended to pay or reimburse costs incurred on any one film.

   (2) In developing the procedures and guidelines for the program,
the commission may, in consultation with interested public agencies,
establish limits on per-day film costs that the state will
reimbugrse.  A consultation and comment period shall begin on January
1, 2001, and shall end 30 days thereafter.
   (d) (1) Upon receipt of all necessary film costs documentation
from a public agency, the Trade and Commerce Agency shall transmit
the appropriate information to the Controller for payment of the film
costs within 30 days.
   (2) Public agencies shall be entitled to reimbursement for certain
administrative costs, to be determined by the director of the
commission, incurred while participating in the program.  The
reimbursement for administrative costs shall not exceed 1 percent of
the total amount of the invoices submitted.  Reimbursement shall have
an annual cap imposed of not more than ten thousand dollars
($10,000) per public agency participating in the program.  Contracted
agents working on behalf of two or more public agencies shall have a
cap of not more than twenty thousand dollars ($20,000) annually.
   (e) The commission shall prepare annual preliminary reports to be
submitted to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee in regard to the
program prior to the adoption of the annual Budget Act.  The reports
shall include a list of all entities that received funds from the
program, the amounts they received, and the public services that were
reimbursed.  The commission shall prepare and submit a final report
to the committee no later than January 1, 2004.
   (f) The commission shall, in consultation with the Department of
Industrial Relations and the Employment Development Department,
contract with an independent audit firm or qualified academic expert,
to prepare a report to be submitted to the Joint Legislative Budget
Committee no later than January 1, 2004, that identifies the
beneficiaries of expenditures from the Film California First Fund,
and determines the impact of these expenditures on job retention and
job creation in California.
  SEC. 4.  Section 15363.75 of the Government Code is amended to
read:
   15363.75.  Procedures and guidelines promulgated to clarify and
make specific provisions of the program established pursuant to this
chapter, or of any other film assistance program within the agency,
shall be exempt from the requirements of Chapter 3.5 (commencing with
Section 11340) of Part 1 for a period of 36 months after the
effective date of this chapter.  Following the 36-month exemption,
the commission may adopt regulations concerning the implementation of
this chapter as emergency regulations in accordance with Chapter 3.5
(commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1.  The adoption of these
regulations is an emergency and necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health and safety, or general
welfare within the meaning of subdivision (b) of Section 11346.1.
Notwithstanding subdivision (e) of Section 11346.1, the regulations
shall not remain in effect for more than 180 days unless the
commission complies with all provisions of Chapter 3.5 (commencing
with Section 11340) of Part 1, as required by subdivision (e) of
Section 11346.1.
